Abstract: The Knowledge Economy and the Paradox of Intangible Value ‘Economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing’ – Oscar Wilde The changing nature of capitalism increasingly relies upon knowledge, yet accounting practices struggle to capture its value in metrics. Information, human capital and ‘know how’ thus remain ‘intangible.’ This paradox – of using, and seeking to create, a form of value we cannot measure and demonstrate, arises from the market’s primary orientation to economic gains. Yet where economic gains arise from intangible assets, investment and resource allocation decisions are effectively blind. This paper explores the paradox of intangible value with a view to assessing current methods of measurement and to better informing its management.